Trinity Vector
by Ali'Sha Kalantar
Summary: A tale of a Time Lady and her new Companion set in alternate realities as the clumsy Time Lady seeks a way to rweturn to her home realm.
1. Chapter 1

**TRINITY VECTOR: BEFORE THE STORM**

The Time Wars were in full swing, and those involved who had made the decision had time-locked the war. Time Lords, Time Ladies and even Gallifreyan Outsiders were in battle with the Daleks in a winner-takes-all war of a magnitude few in any universe could comprehend. Tria, who had recently regenerated and lost her first TARDIS, _Medula_, an Exploratory TARDIS of the lowest order, ran across her current battlefield to find shelter against the Dalek onslaught. Her young Asian form, a firm contradiction from her birth form of someone who on Earth would be an attractive young "proper" British woman, lookd to the others nearby. She rolled her eyes and sighed at the number of guns they held. Tria HATED guns, because they were weapons of destruction, never of peace and understanding. At the same time, Gallifreyans around her wondered why the young form did not clad itself in armor, running around in Earth's Japan schoolgirl clothing.

"EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!" came the calls of the Dalek army, or rather a small battle unit compared to the full army spread across the battlefield of multiple worlds. Tria shivered every time she heard the metallic robotic speech of the Daleks. She held her Sonic-Remote up, using the communicator built in to contact others. "This is Private Tria, of the Gallifreyan Army," she spoke, using Earth military terms she had been using with her battle unit. "The Daleks have penetrated our sector! Fall back, fall back!!" As she spoke, in her asian accented voice, many of the armored humanoids began to run away, seeking safer ground and shelter. A few were killed, unable to regenerate, but the rest managed to retreat to safer ground for the time. Tria, however, stayed situated behind the ruins of what was once a temple in the areas she was born from. Tria, the orphan of lesser Gallifreyans, who was adopted and rose to become a Time Lady.... The area was as she remembered as a child, save for the damage. Tria closed her eyes for a moment and wished her dearest, oldest friend was with her instead of off wherever she may be, but then regained composure and sighed. She was ready to fight the Daleks head on.

Just as Tria rose to confront the Dalek army, she was dragged back down by a hand. As Tria looked, she noticed an old friend, her semi-mentor. "Why, Doctor," she said smart-assed, "How nice of you to drop in? Would you like some tea?" The Doctor half-grinned at Tria. "Good, lass," he said with a half-smile, "You're not as brain dead as they thought." He winked at Tria and placed a bumpy round object in her hand. "Pull the proverbial pin and throw it," said the short-haired and big-eared Doctor. Tria nodded, and placed her finger on the correct spot and threw the grenade, running with The Doctor as they tried to find safety from the blast. As the duo jumped over a ridge, Tria was knocked out and sent flying by the force of the explosion. Without hesitation, The Doctor picked the girl up and took off running faster than humans could run.

Several hours later, Tria woke up and smiled, her asian hand stroking the Doctor's face. "Thank you," she said softly, drained of energy. She looked around, noticing that she was in _Trinity Vector_, her current TARDIS. "You brought me home," she said, with a smile, "Thank you."

However, unknown to Tria, the Doctor had spent the last few hours re-programming her TARDIS on a one-way trip. She and Trinity Vector would travel through a dying star as it collapsed in this reality... and emerge safely in another reality.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, a tear rolling down his cheek, "I'm so, so sorry." As he said that, he held his Sonic-Screwdriver to Tria's stomach and let a blast of damaging sonic energy go by, essentially killing Tria. He held his hands over her wound and gave some of his own energy to the young Time Lady.

As he exited Tria's TARDIS, watching it fly off, and feeling the regeneration of the young Time Lady, the Doctor watched the pyramid-shaped TARDIS disappear into the night's sky. "Goodbye, Tria," he said, somewhat crying. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... But at least now our race will survive, even if it isn't here."

Tria's TARDIS passed through a dying sun in the dimension she was in, drawing off it's energy as programmed by The Doctor, and exiting from the same dying star in another reality and taking it's energy before drifting. Tria's body began to glow, and suddenly energy surrounded the unconcious form, and grew to a brightness like staring at a sun before fading, leaving what was once a young asian form as a tall, white blonde human form...


	2. Chapter 2

**TRINITY VECTOR **

_A Doctor Who Spin-Off Fan-Fic_

**Episode 0**

**-Nemo, USA, 2007-**

Rainbow Summers sighed as she looked into the mirror at yet another dress held against herself, clearly unsatisfied. For just over three hours, she had been attempting to find _just_ the right dress to wear to her senior prom, and as of yet, nothing came close. The 17-year-old would never dare enter the ballroom of the prom in anything as "preppy" as the dresses she had seen so far. With her short hairstyle dyed a crimson red, and her several peircings, it was almost obvious Rainbow had no desire to appear like a "delicate flower" as her classmates would wish, yet the shop employee continued to insist that Rainbow try flowery, lacy, and _pretty _dresses.

Rainbow was just about to give up when an explosion came from behind her, near enough to shake the earth beneath the shop and cause the windows to shatter in it's shockwaves, not to mention knocking over anything or anyone standing like a breeze would knock over a standing pencil. Rainbow pushed herself up in a panic, shoving the clothing and debris from her and turned her view just outside the shop. Hovering above the street outside the now-shattered window was a sperical, glowing orange blob of... something. The girl could not register what this... this _thing _was, but she knew it had to be dangerous, as it's weird tentacles thrashed about. She began to cry softly, whispering prayers to herself when she heard a voice off to her side say in quite the confiden tone, "RIght, then!"

Rainbow looked over her left shoulder to see a tall young blonde woman, clad in leather pants, a black babydoll tee, buckled boots and a long black trenchcoat holding an odd oval-shaped device towards the orange sphere. "Let's see," the blonde girl muttered, "A nega sphere, so, that means... yadda yadda... carry the two... AH-HA!" As the girl exclaimed, she pressed a button on the device, which then emitted a blue-green beam of light, surrounding the "thing" before it all suddenly disappeard. "Spiffy," the blonde said calmly with a cocky smile. Just then, the blonde turned her attention to Rainbow. "Ah! Let me help you up, deary!"

Rainbow looked in disbelief at the blonde woman smiling at her, slowly accepting her hands and raising to her feet. As she dusted herself off, she tried to speak. "What... I mean... What did... What was... Am I high?" Hearing this, the blonde woman smiled and patted the girl on her shoulder and spoke as if this was only a common occurance. "Hey, doll, it's okay, you're safe, that's all that matters. Isn't it? At least, I _THINK _death is still a fear for you people, right?"

Rainbow looked at the odd blonde, raising her eyebrow. "Wha... Are you insane? Who are you?" The blonde woman laughed at Rainbow and smiled.

"Chin up, doll, you just avoided a deadly encounter with the galactic emo's of your reality. Oh! By the way, everyone calls me Tria, what's your name?"

Rainbow fainted.

**-Nemo, USA, 3 Hours Later-**

"So, let me get this straight," Rainbow asked. "That... was an alien thing that wanted to... to drain my world of some chemicals and stuff?"

Tria smiled. "And now you are getting it! I must say, you are smart for your kind. And cute too! The last reality I was in, people were so different, everyone looked like... um... have you ever seen the movie _'The Last Starfighter'_? Does that exist here, there's a..." Rainbow cut the woman off. "Wait," Rainbow started. "You keep talking about things like 'my' people, or 'other realities' and stuff. Does this mean... I mean, can you... Are you a demon?"

Tria laughed heavily and smiled. "A Demon? I've been called that, yes, along wih many unsavory names, but, no, I'm not a demon. At least, I'm almost sure I'm not! No, I'm a Time Lady of Gallifrey!"

"Time Lady," asked Rainbow, "A Time Lady??? Of... of whatever you said. I don't think I understand. What, you make clocks? Watches? People call you and you tell them the time and weather and stuff?"

Tria grinned wide. "No, dear, I'm... Well, I may look like you, but I'm not _LIKE _you. If it helps, let me oversimplify it, okay? I'm an alien! A rather cute one, to be sure, can't you tell? I mean, these clothes from your world are a miracle! I can't believe hairless apes have this kind of fashion sense!"

Rainbow pouted angrily. "Have a heart!"

"Have two, actually," Tria replied. "But enough about me, what about you? I won't lie, I think you're a smart and spiffy human."

Rainbow blushed. Had the blonde alien just flirted with her? "I, um, er, I," Rainbow mumbled, almost a bit scared. "I like, um, music? And, stuff?"

"Stuff!!" exclaimed Tria. "Stuff is the best! Can never have enough stuff, you know? I mean, it's, like... like... like collectible! And art!" Tria giggles softly, holding her right hand out to Rainbow. "Come. I want to show you something. Come see my stuff!"

Rainbow reluctantly took the alien woman's hand, and followed as the woman dragged her outside the confines of the empty park they had gone to discuss what had happened. The blonde woman, Tria, seemed so kind to Rainbow that she couldn't hep but trust her, see her as a non-threat. Rainbow followed the woman, crossing a few city blocks and corners until they came to a dead end. Tria held up a finger. "One sec, love, just have to... what's the term? Sky ice my cab?" As she spoke, she pressed a few butrtons on the oval-shaped thing, and a strange shimmering in the air began to occur, followed by an almost eerie humming. The space before Tria began to shimmer, between clear space and solid matter, and a vague shape began to appear and dissapear. As the shimmering begane to fade, the shape revealed a pyramid shape, with a door in the center of one portion. Pressing another button, the door slid open in two parts, almost like _Star Trek_ doors, and Tria smiled and held a hand out, inviting Rainbow in.

"Welcome to my T.A.R.D.I.S., Trinity Vector!"

**-**_**TRINITY VECTOR**_**, Moments Later-**

"Wow."

Rainbow couldn't find words to describe what she saw as she walked into the main chamber of _Trinity Vector_. The "ship", if you could call it that, was not only an amazing peice of technology, it was so beautiful. It made viewing the Sistine Chapel like viewing cut and taped image of comic-strips taped to a ceiling. It was almost steampunk meets "Sar Wars" with a hint of H.G. Wells. Tria held out her arms, spinning slowly and said simply "Isn't it fantastic?"

Rainbow shook her head in awe, eyes wide and taking in the view of the alien craft. "You called it... a... a... tarded?"

Tria smiled. "No, doll, a T.A.R.D.I.S., it's an acronym for Time and relative dimensions in space. Favored ride of the Time Lords and Time Ladies... Though..." Tria cut herself off and leaned over a railing and sighed. "I'm lonely, Rainbow. I'm alone, and I want a friend. But... None of my kind exists in the realities I've been too."

Rainbow smiled and placed her hand on Tria's shoulder. "Lonliness is human. And, what do you mean? Can't you just go home, see your friends?"

Tria shook her head. "No, doll. When I was working _Trinity Vector _In my first few months, I made a miscalculation. I went to the wrong place, the wrong time, and moreso, the wrong realm. I can't get home, love. I'm stuck outside of my own reality. Blorg, I wish I was as smart as him, he'd be able to fix it. I know he could."

Rainbow cockd an eyebrow. "Him? Him who? Another of your kind?"

Tria nodded. "Yeah," she started. "The Doctor, an acquaintence of mine, he'd be able to fix it."

Rainbow cocked her head in confusion and asked, "Doctor who?"

Tria grinned. "Never mind that, Rain... Can I call you Rain? It doesn't matter. Look, I've said too much. Just go. You can see the door. It was nice to meet you, miss dirty dress!"

Rainbow hook her head. "No, no, no! You said you were lonely! And I've read enough comic books to know someone with...," Rainbow waves her hands around the main chamber of _Trinity Vector_, "...This kind of tech... I mean... Wha are the odds? Screw my prom!! I'm tagging along!"

Tria smiles widely, "You sure?" Rainbow then nods with a smile.

Tria then runs to the controls with a grin. "Hang on, then, Rain... You're about to go on a journey noone of your kind will ever claim... And it will be... Fantastic!"


	3. Chapter 3

**TRINITY VECTOR**

**Episode 1**

_"Uno Momento"_

**-TRINITY VECTOR-**

Rainbow woke, eyes still not open, still half-asleep. She shifted around in the big comfy bed for almost half an hour before realizing the blankets and pillows were not her own from her bed at home. She cracked one eye open and looked around, almost ready to panic before her memory set in that meeting the strange Tria was not a dream. It had been less than a week since they met, but the first few days had been spent in what Tria called her "Media Room", which was a combination of a private screening room, Earth "poor" person living room with assorted non-matching yet comfortable couches, loveseats and recliners and a personal bar. It also had several desks with computers ranging from those Rainbow would consider "ancient" to those of her own time and then some she would describe as "futuristic". It was only the night previous that Tria has given Rainbow her own room on the ship.

Rainbow sat up, stretching in a yawn, wishing she had more energy. She smiled as she remembered the reason she was so tired, however. Tria had insisted on a "Star Wars" movie marathon, watching the six movies Rainbow knew and loved, then watching Episodes Seven and Eight, which Rainbow could not take her eyes off of, even past her normal threshold of sleepiness. She giggled at the thought... Here she was, on a strange alien spacecraft, and yet she was most fascinated by a couple of movies she would not have seen for many many years had she not met the strange blonde. As she looked around the room, she noticed a small rack of various clothing had been wheeled inside the door, a note attached. She stood, wandering over and read the note:

_"Didn't know what exactly you like to wear, sorry I didn't give you time to pack. Figured these might be to your liking"_

The note was signed with a heart with "Tria" signed through it. Rainbow blushed slightly, then blushed a few shades darker as she realized she might have a crush on the strange blonde alien.

Tria wiggled to the tunes she had blaring through the speakers of her T.A.R.D.I.S. control room as she worked minor repairs. The current song, "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, had always been one of her favorite Earth musicial songs. As she slid out from beneath a minor console, she waved her tools in the air as if drumming. As the song ended, she spread her arms, dropped her tools and stretched with a soft grunt, having been working in her previous position too long. "You're getting old, girl," she said to herself, "729, and third regeneration already... Though to be fair, the war did a lot..."

She sighed, stood and grabbed for the oval shaped Sonic-Remote clasped to her belt. She pressed a specific button and spoke, "Al-Fred, would you mind whipping up some breakfast for two? I assume Rain will be awake soon." Within seconds, a metallic robotic-like voice replies, "Yes, Mistress Tria. And, I look forward to meeting the young Earthling.". Tria smiled. Al-Fred was as strange as herself, although she was glad no other Time Lords or Time Ladies had met him outside her own T.A.R.D.I.S. because he was another casualty of the Time War she was driven far from... However, Al-Fred, who had chosen his own name after reading many Batman comics in Tria's library, was not human or humanoid. Al-Fred was a techno-organic merged being called a Dalek, the enemy of the Time Lords and the enemy side of the Time War.

When Tria had found him aboard Trinity Vector, her instincts were to destroy him, but he was nothing like the Daleks she had faced in battle. He did not care for Dalek rule or that any being was "imperfect", instead he was curious and friendly. Over the two years they had been together, Tria had helped him refit his Dalek form from a machine of destruction to something that could help more than harm. He (or "it", rather, since it had no clear sex) had also chosen to stay with Tria as a friend and helper, chef, and co-mechanic to the Trinity Vector.

"Al-Fred," Tria spoke into the Sonic-Remote, "Make sure Rain's breakfast is a suitable bland Earthling breakfast, okay? I don't think she's ready for a Tyrishkan breakfast." A soft metallic chuckle came back across the com of the Sonic-Remote. "No offense, Mistress Tria, but even the Tyrishkians aren't prepared for a Tyrishkan breakfast." As the metallic snickering subsided, Tria debated for a moment if she should insult back before she saw Rainbow, dressed in a dark green babydoll tee that contrasted with her crimson red hair and a pair of black leather pants standing on the walkway above her. Blinking a few times and fighting the urge to blush, it took all her inner strength to speak and not squeak, "Hungry?"

After breakfast (And Rainbow wondering why Tria's food had a blue-green glow, something Tria said was "It's how you tell how spicy Tyrish Peppers are.") the duo retreated to the control room. Tria looked to Rainbow with a soft smile. "Pick a number." Tria said with a smirk, working the consoles in the control room. Rainbow raised an eyebrow and spoke confused and reluctantly, "Um... Four?" Tria grinned and pointed at Rainbow. "Hold onto the nearest brace... And here we go..." As Tria spoke, she pressed a few buttons and the insides of Trinity Vector began to shake, like a human van driving down an extremely bumpy road....


	4. Chapter 4

_**Aryna belongs to my friend Teish, this is just a cross-reality message sent, akin to that in her story "The Ginger with a Temper" This takes place at the end of "The End of Time" **_

**TRINITY VECTOR**

_**"Intermission 1"**_

_**Three Years Ago...**_

Tria raced around her TARDIS console, tracing the signal they had picked up. "Galactic emos," she mumbled, "Scum of the galaxy."

The metallic voice of her newfound companion Al-Fred chuckled, "You think everything is 'scum of the galaxy', Mistress."

Tria shot him a playful look and stuck out her tongue. "I'm a Time Lady, I have that right," she spoke with mock authority. She continued to work the console until a sudden glow surrounded her. "No," she spoke breathily, then grew louder. "Nonono no NO!" Her body became surrounded by the golden glow of regeneration.

"Mistress! Mistress, are you allright," asked Al-Fred, just as Tria collapsed unconcious on the floor. _Trinity Vector_ even hummed in concern, sending Al-Fred the images of Tria regenerating in the time they crossed away from the universe they were born of.

Hours later, Tria awoke on the floor, facing the ceiling of _Trinity Vector_ and bolting upright, feeling her face and body. "Did I change? Am I different," she asked Al-Fred.

"Negative, Mistress. You simply... glowed. Then you slept. I am... concerned, Mistress, are you okay?"

Tria stood and checked her reflection in the bare parts of her TARDIS console. "Yes... Yes, I suppose I'm fine," she said softly, "Now.. Find out what the heck that was."

_**Present Day**_

___Trinity Vector_ had found a crack in time/space, and Tria prepared to send another message to Aryna. She set up the recording device, then backed away into it's frame of view.

"Hi again, sis. I miss you and hope things are going well for you. As you can see, I'm still alive, but my companion..." she grinned playfully and took a mock tone of anger, "..she almost got me killed, wanting to see what _really_ happened to the dinosaurs." Tria gigggled the same giggle Aryna knew from her, the one that not even regenerations changed. Then she motioned offscreen for someone to come closer. "Don't be alarmed, my friend, but I want you to meet someone." Slowly, a Dalek rolled into view of the recording device, rolling up to Tria and she place a hand atop him. "This is Al-Fred... Yes, you know my "Batman" comic collection, he liked it too. Don't be alarmed, he's like us, Aryna... He's... different. As you can see," Tria motioned her hand to the many obvious changes to the still obvious Dalek, "he's been modified. They were going to kill him, Aryna, and his 'Emergency Temporal Shift' brought him to me. I admit, for months I wanted to kill him, but..." a tear slid down Tria's cheek, "He's llike _me_. You know how hard that is, how the Council wanted me gone? I know I'm part human, but... it isn't my fault!" The force of anger from that statement made Tria cry, and Al-Fred extended a mechanical arm with a tissue.

"Mistress is kind," Al-Fred spoke to the recording device, "I hope, in time, you will also know I am not like _those_ Daleks. Mistress is my savior, my friend, I serve her of my own free will... something I did not have among my kind."

Tria sniffed and patted Al-Fred, "See? I suppose the Doctor marooning me out here came with at least that perk, right? Then again, I always was a magnet for the odd... You found me, didn't you?" She giggled softly and opened her mouth to speak again, then suddenly was overcome by a glow. "Oh no.. no... Aryna, find the Doctor... Something terrible must have happened... Because of his energies he gave me, this happens during his regeneration. Please, Aryna, as much as I hate him for stranding me... He is still one of our oldest friends..."

Tria got up and turned off the recording device, then sliding to the floor in pain of the regeneration energies. "Al-Fred... Keep Rainbow occupied if she gets up... I don't want her to see me in pain."  
"Affirmitive," Al-Fred said sadly. Tria pressed the "send" button on her Sonic-Remote, and even as _Trinity Vector_ sent the message, it tried to ease Tria's pain even as she passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Trinity Vector**_

_"Through the Looking Reflective Surface"_

_**Trinity Vector**_

"Mistress Tria, please wake up." Al-Fred had returned to check on Tria after Rainbow had run off to bathe after he had served her breakfast. He grew increasingly worried that Tria had not awaken from this incident, not like the other two times when she merely slept for roughly 2 hours. Reluctantly, he decided that there was no choice and decided to activate what Tria had called the "Emergency Medical Hologram" program. Flickering into existance, not quite solid and stable, came a holographic human form, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Al-Fred could not help but emit a soft metallic chuckle, as the hologram was almost exactly a duplicate of the character from "Star Trek: Voyager". "Mistress Tria, she won't wake up," Al-Fred began, explaining the incident that led up to the unconcious Time Lady leaning against the center control panels of _Trinity Vector_'s control room.

? ?

Tria looked around, unsure what had brought her to this strange place. She felt groggy, as if she had awoke the day after a drinking binge or recovering from anesthesia like the time she was held hostage by the strange bio-engineers of T'phlania 9. She felt hot, although it felt much like a dry heat. The land was a desert, sprawling as far as she could see in any direction with not a cloud in the sky, with two suns blazing overhead. "Holy hell," she said as she noticed the two suns were not just seeing double, "I'm on Tattooine... Or someone spiked my drink and this is a really awesome hallucination."

"Not exactly," came a voice from behind her. Tria whirled around in shock, there had been absolutely noone anywhere near her moments ago. She blinked and held her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, certain she was hallucinating. "You can't be here," Tria said softly, her lips trembling. "You're dead." The man walked up and placed a hand on Tria's shoulder, giving her the same sad smile he had given her when she was a child. "Seriously," Tria said, paralyzed in shock. "Dad, I saw you die."

"It's complicated, little one," Tria's adoptive father spoke. "It's me, but it's not me. I'd have thought you, of all people, would have believed in that sort of thing. You always defied logic and reason, believing in the impossible... And for a Time Lord, that's not a small feat."

"You're an echo," Tria said in realization. The man nodded slowly. "Dad... Am I dead?" The man laughed his kindly laugh, starting softly and growing to nearly a howl before coming back down to a softer sound. "No, not yet," he spoke, "But you _are_ in danger." Tria raised an eyebrow in question, "Danger from what, exactly?"

"From them," he said, extending a finger to wraith-like beings hovering near the horizon. Tria took a moment to recognize them before she turned pale as she realized what they were and where she was. They were known simply as the Psychic-Eaters, beings who existed in between time and space who fed off the so-called "Life Force" of living beings. If Tria could see them without the aid of devices, there was only one place she could be. It was not a where, it was not a when. She was in one of the sub-dimensions that the humans called the Astral Plane.

? ?

"I don't understand it," the hologram spoke, "Medically, she is fine. Her breathing is within normal range, her hearts are beating as if she were simply asleep, but her brain activity is twice that of her normal parameters." Al-Fred swiveled his head to look at the hologram, as if it would somehow help him understand something that it had left unsaid or that the hologram could not comprehend. He felt... _hopeless_, a very un-Dalek feeling. Then again, most Daleks felt nothing but anger, pain or superior over other beings, if they felt anything at all. He wished more than anything at this moment that he could shed a tear.

? ?

"This can't be," Tria said as she and the echo of her adoptive father watched the horizon, keeping an eye for the Psychic-Eaters to advance. "I don't have the right... What's the words... I don't have the right _parts_ for this. I'm not a psychic.... Not like, well, not like my friends are." A hand came to rest on Tria's other shoulder, making her jerk in surprise as she looked over to see... "Who are you?"

The woman smiled a very kindly yet sad smile. "You wouldn't remember me, Emalia, but you and I are part of each other. The name Emalia made Tria drop to her knees. That was to be her name if she had been raised by her birth parents. Tria looked in confusion, "How... You're not... I mean...." The woman placed her finger on Tria's lips. "It's okay. I can't explain, but we're all here to help you." Tria looked behind her, and saw many faces she had not seen in years, many whom had died in the Time War, and some she had never seen at all. One face Tria did not see, however, was that of her sister, her adoptive parents birth daughter. As if reading her thoughts, her father spoke "I cannot say for certain where your sister is. All I can tell you is these are the echoes of the dead you loved and who loved you. Once again, little one, you made the impossible happen." As he said the final words, the people all began to glow, and the light became so bright and warm. And then Tria felt herself slipping away as if vanishing. "Remember... The Drifter," came her father's voice, sounding so far away...

? ?

Tria bolted upright in the console room of _Trinity Vector. _Al-Fred and a hologram were staring at her in surprise. "Mistress! You're functioning again," came the happy metallic tones of Al-Fred. Tria forced a smile and nodded, breathing a little heavy. "How long was I out," Tria asked, standing slowly and flipping the switch to turn off the medical hologram. "Nine hours, Mistress," Al-Fred replied, "I told Rainbow that you would be effecting some dangerous repairs and to help herself to the media room. I feel bad for lying, Mistress." Tria nodded, patting Al-Fred on the top of his domed head. "You're a good man, my friend." She turned to climb the stairs and headed for her room. "I think I need some time to myself, then a proper sleep." Al-Fred replied confused but not arguing, "Of course, Mistress."

Tria sat in the middle of her bed, hugging a pillow as she cried and tried to make sense of what had happened. At the same time, her father's final words, _Remember the Drifter, _kept repeating in her mind. Was this a reference to something from her childhood she no longer remembered? Was she supposed to find someone, some being known as The Drifter? Was it just a hallucination or a dream? Either way, it would have to wait. She lay back in her bed, curling up on her side and cried herself to sleep, remembering the face of her birth mother that she had never seen before.


End file.
